U.S. Steel is facing 10 violations and $118,000 in fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration related to last year’s deadly explosion at the Clairton Coke Works.
The Pittsburgh-based company was cited nine times for inadequate safety procedures, employee training and equipment to isolate machines from energy sources. The last violation comes from U.S. Steel’s failure to supply the agency with incident reports in a timely manner.
OSHA also hit MPW Industrial Services, an Ohio-based contractor whose employees were on-site when the blast took place, with nine violations and $61,000 in fines. These were also mainly tied to procedure and training issues.
The reports were sent to the companies Monday and obtained by TribLive on Thursday.
U.S. Steel said in a statement that it’s reviewing the citations.
MPW did not immediately return a request for comment.
On Aug. 11, an explosion ripped through an area between Batteries Nos. 13 and 14 at the coke works. U.S. Steel employees Timothy Quinn and Steven Menefee died as a result.
Another 10 workers were hurt, along with one contractor.
“We are grateful to OSHA for thoroughly investigating the tragic incident that cost two lives and impacted many others,” said United Steelworkers District 10 Director Bernie Hall in a statement. “We are dedicated to working with management to implement OSHA’s recommendations — especially those that incorporate process safety management — and continue our mission to make our workplaces safer.”
Bill Farrier, president of United Steelworkers Local 1557 in Clairton, declined to comment.
Clairton Coke Works mechanical repairman Andy Macey said that plant employees gather daily together for a safety huddle to go over any possible hazards. Macey also said all workers have a card that they flash — similar to a stop sign — signaling if work needs to cease suddenly.
“I’ve been an employee for 44 years and I can attest to U.S. Steel’s safety policies from corporate … they value safety first,” Macey said.
The incident came less than two months after Nippon Steel’s nearly $15 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, underscoring the challenges the Japanese steelmaker faces in keeping the aging Mon Valley Works operational — let alone competitive.
The parent company has committed about $2.4 billion to the Mon Valley Works, but it’s unknown how much will be funneled into the Clairton plant.
Patrick Campbell, executive director of GASP (Group Against Smog and Pollution), said he hopes the incident serves as a wake-up call for Nippon.
“It is really offensive to me as a person who lives in Southwestern Pennsylvania and has steelworkers in my family,” Campbell said, who equated inadequate training with environmental risks stemming from the explosion.
OSHA attributes the blast to a valve rupturing while workers washed it with water, leading to the release of highly combustible coke oven gas. This explanation generally aligns with early findings from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which is expected to release its final report by the end of the year.
U.S. Steel and MPW have until March 6 either to pay the penalties and address the violations or to send a letter of intent legally contesting the findings.
Macey said that until the investigation is finalized and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board issued a report, he could not speak about the violations.
U.S. Steel must also post the citations at a prominent spot in the workplace, near the location of the violations or where they will be “readily observable by all affected employees,” according to OSHA regulations.
The last major explosion at the coke works came in 2010. Some 14 employees and six workers were injured. OSHA originally fined U.S. Steel $175,000 for factors that may have contributed to the incident; the company got it whittled down to $78,500 under a settlement agreement.
Jack Troy and Megan Trotter are TribLive staff writers. Jack can be reached at jtroy@triblive.com, Megan at mtrotter@triblive.com.
